The Eyes of Storms
by Jananae
Summary: While searching a building for another victim's body, Ziva encounters the Port-to-Port killer. A possible Season Eight finale "What if?" for the upcoming episodes "Swan Song" and "Pyramid". Two-parter with added Author's Note. CONCLUSION IS UP.
1. The Eyes

**A/N—This is probably pretty early, but I wanted to post this "What if?" piece before we got _too_ much information on the Port-to-Port killer. This is also my first attempt at psychological thriller, so I'm curious to see how it turned out. The main theme I wanted to explore in this piece was what eyes can (and _can't_) tell you about a person. Also, just to be clear, this isn't necessarily what I think will happen in the season finale; this is a totally out-of-left-field "What if?" Quite frankly, I'd be surprised if something like this actually happened.**

"Alright. According to the anonymous tip we received, there is a body somewhere in this warehouse," EJ barked to the team surrounding her. "They didn't give us much information, but we know that this corpse was wrapped in plastic and had its ankles bound. If this is another one of his victims, that brings his total to eight on U.S. soil."

As Ziva readied her weapon and listened to EJ's speech, she couldn't help but feel a sense of unease creep up her spine. Glancing around at her teammates, she thought she sensed a similar something in their eyes, and this did nothing to alleviate the feeling.

"Now," EJ continued, "this is a rather large building of three floors, so we'll be splitting into teams of two. I want this warehouse swept as cleanly and as fast as possible. And weapons always at the ready," she said darkly. "After what happened last time..." she trailed off before regaining herself. She said sternly, "I don't want anything like that happening again, understood?"

Ziva felt a clench in her stomach as EJ started to separate them into teams. Unnecessarily re-checking her gun, she glanced up to see Gibbs' eyes staring in her direction, despite the fact that EJ was speaking directly to him.

"And Ziva, you'll be partnered with me," she said turning toward her. "We take the ground floor. Now let's find that body!" she ordered fiercely. Ziva set her shoulders and cast one more look around at her teammates before jogging after EJ. Despite her own reassurances, she couldn't quite rid herself of that deep sense of unease. Something wasn't right, wasn't adding up. And this followed her like an unwelcome cloud.

Entering the building, the teams went their separate ways, two of them heading toward the stairs to comb the upper floors. EJ and Ziva moved through their floor, checking the large rooms to no avail. Finally reaching the east end of the warehouse with no body in sight, EJ heaved a frustrated sigh and asked the rest of the team, "Any luck on your floors?"

But there was only silence in their ears. "Anybody?" she asked again. EJ and Ziva both tapped their ears, hoping to reinstate the broken line of communication between them and their team. "I am getting nothing," Ziva said. "How do we not know something has gone wrong again?" she asked, trying to keep her voice as level as possible.

"We don't," EJ replied stiffly. "Come on, let's head upst—What's that?" she said, pointing her gun at what appeared to be a handle of some sort set into the concrete floor. She walked over to it, nodded to Ziva as they both leveled their weapons, and pulled open what appeared to be a door in the floor. An odd hush whipped up from the opening as they both stared into the abyss.

"There was no basement of any kind listed in the floor plans," Ziva said quietly. A peculiar gleam suddenly entered EJ's eyes as she stared into the depths. "Let's go," she said fervently. "Our body could be down there."

"Should we not wait for the others?" Ziva inquired uneasily. Her glare still focused on the opening in front of them, EJ said firmly, "No. They have their jobs, we have ours. Hopefully we'll find what we're looking for," she said, removing her flashlight from her belt and shining it into the hole. Ziva did the same, noting an almost brand new, steel ladder that led to what appeared to be an empty corridor below.

"Let's go," EJ said again as she lowered herself down through the floor. As Ziva followed, her level of trepidation heightened along with the ground that rose past her eyes as she climbed down the ladder into a low-ceilinged tunnel. "This way," EJ's voice whispered from ahead as she saw her flashlight move further into the darkness.

Following EJ's lead, her gun ready, Ziva's senses heightened for every possible noise or movement, any sinister activity in the dark. She noticed how a faint smell of bleach clung to the air, reminding her of something sterile. _This is exactly the kind of thing our Port-to-Port killer does_, Ziva thought as she tightened the grip she had on her weapon.

EJ came to a stop by a door about 100 feet down the tunnel. She once again looked to Ziva before quickly opening it. Both of them rushed inside, their flashlights flicking around the room. At first glance, it seemed to be entirely empty until Ziva noticed a slight gleam in the corner. Focusing her beam in that direction, she swiftly crossed the concrete floor, coming upon what she realized was a simple Ziploc bag. As she bent to examine it, she found inside a pair of eyeballs wrapped in clear plastic, the green irises illuminated in the harsh glare of the light in her hand. She stared at them, transfixed, as she found a familiar quality to them. Swapping her flashlight to her right hand, she picked up the item as she heard EJ walk up behind her.

Ziva stared at the bag for a moment before turning to tell EJ what she found. As she spun around, still looking at the eyes, she heard an odd THUNK and felt something hit her midsection. For a moment, she stood stock still as she slowly lowered the bag, training her flashlight on the area just below her ribcage where a gloved hand held the hilt of a scalpel, the blade deep in her abdomen.

Her mouth slightly agape, she slowly moved her flashlight upward and saw a pair of emotionless eyes staring back at her from behind a black mask. Ziva felt an immense pain as the person swiftly pulled the knife from her body in a slashing motion, creating a three inch gash in her torso. As they stepped back, she felt her gun pulled from her limp hand. Falling to her knees, her flashlight rolled to her side and illuminated EJ's body lying some ten feet away, her lifeless eyes staring, her throat slit.

"Gibbs...! McGee...!" she gasped as she attempted once again to raise her team on her earbud. Unsurprised, she was met with more silence as the killer reached into his pocket and pulled out a small device, saying in a flat voice, "Frequency jammer. We can't have anybody knowing where we are, can we?" Ziva's attention suddenly sharpened, staring up at his equally flat eyes. She knew that voice. But why couldn't she place a name or face?

"Why...did you not...kill me...immediately...too?" she panted through labored breaths, holding her torso. "I definitely could have," he stated in a matter-of-fact voice. "Why...not?" she gasped again.

"I killed her out of necessity. As head of my case, she was privy to far more information on me than she was letting on; she wasn't sharing everything with the rest of her team. Based on these details, she suspected the next "body" would probably be found underground, so she assigned herself the ground floor. She was very...passionate about my case. I called in an anonymous tip about this warehouse, and as I suspected, she followed her instincts. I knew she wouldn't pass up an opportunity to find out more about me. You, on the other hand, I'm curious about."

As he spoke, Ziva attempted to shut off the pain she was feeling and focused all of her attention on her right hand as she slowly inched for the knife on her left hip. Glad for the darkness that disguised her true intentions, she asked, "Curious?...How?" He paused before saying, "You can see a lot in someone's eyes when you kill them."

"Does this...have anything...to do with...your apparent...obsession...with eyeballs?" she wheezed. Once again, he seemed to think about his words carefully before cryptically saying, "Partly. What I'm curious about is what I will see in _your_ eyes."

"Why me?" she said sharply. "Curiosity," he repeated. "I've seen something in your eyes before. Something you're hiding, something that frightens you." Ziva stiffened, her task momentarily forgotten. "Where...have you seen me...before? Who...are you?" she winced. The man deflected, saying, "It doesn't matter who I am. It matters who _you_ are. I want to find out what causes that look in your eye...What's eating at you?" he inquired as he cocked his head slightly. She did not answer, opting instead for her own question. "How did you know...I was to be...partnered with EJ?"

"I didn't. She was my only target. You just had the misfortune of being her choice. So I figured I might as well kill two birds with one stone, so to speak."

Suddenly, Ziva moved, throwing her knife at his chest. At the same time, the killer instinctively raised her own gun and fired. She felt the bullet rip through the left side of her throat as her knife embedded itself in the man's chest. Ziva collapsed onto her right side, clutching her neck in wide-eyed shock as she looked up at the man standing above her. He stared at his own chest for a moment before pulling the bloodless knife from his torso.

As he threw it into the darkness behind him, he said calmly, "Bulletproof vest. You probably should have worn one, too." He crossed the distance between them, and bent low over her as she fought for the air that barely came. For the first time, she was able to clearly see his eyes, a rich, deep brown. They glittered in the dark as he stared into her own. Both were silent for a fraction before he said, "There's fear, but...it's not the same kind that I remember." She watched in apprehension as he stood and said simply, "Interesting."

She waited for the final blow to come, a bullet to her head or a knife to her already mangled throat. Instead, he turned his back on her and walked swiftly toward the door, saying, "That gunshot will have attracted the attention of your teammates. It's time I disappear from here." Passing EJ's body, he briefly stooped by her head to retrieve something that Ziva could not see. "I hope they appreciate the bagged gift that you found," he said, straightening himself. As he turned his back on her once again, he exited the room, leaving the door slightly ajar. And as his footsteps died away, she was left in an eerie silence, panicking as the blood continued to flow from her wounds.

Wary of moving for fear of losing even more blood than she already had, she attempted to keep herself as still as possible. She felt the hot liquid pouring down her neck and seeping from her torso as she stared in shock at the floor that was steadily growing red in the light of her flashlight. Her eyes were inevitably drawn to EJ's body lying in its own pool of blood, her eyes continuing to stare in her direction. Ziva's shallow breathing quickened at the sight, acutely aware of the fact that she would soon encounter the same fate.

Suddenly, her earpiece crackled to life, and Gibbs' frantic voice burst through it. "—ere are Ziva and EJ? Has anybody had contact with them?" She heard her teammates all answer in the negative. Ziva willed herself to speak, to tell them where she was, but a gurgled rasp was all that would escape her. The panic within her rose to an unbearable level at the realization that they would not find her in time.

Then, that same familiar, emotionless voice said in her ear, "Basement. South-east corner." At the arrival of this unknown person in their midst, her team fell into a dead silence before a burst of frenzied voices erupted from her earpiece as the encroaching darkness in her own head swallowed her.

**A/N—Now before anybody asks, no, there will not be a continuation of this piece. This _is_ a season finale fic, after all (sorry to leave so many people hanging in suspense). Any comments, criticisms, and reviews are greatly appreciated. Until next time, happy reading.**


	2. Author's Note

**A/N—Ah, I have a habit working people up, don't I? I have to say that it probably wasn't the best idea to leave this story "hanging over the empty void", so I'm already planning a second chapter to finish this piece off; at the latest, it will be posted on Monday. So don't form your angry mobs, and you'll have a finale to this story soon enough ;)**

**Until next time,**

**Jananae**


	3. The Tempests Within

**A/N—Again, I fully admit that leaving this piece a oneshot may have been on the side of "cruel and unusual punishment." So I'm giving you all this second chapter as compensation. I _don't_ promise to resolve all the questions (again, this is a season finale fic), but this chapter contains a lot of answers. Also, a small spoiler alert for this piece: EJ's two team members (who, I believe, will be introduced in this next episode, "Dead Reflection") are in this chapter.**

When he heard the distant and muffled gunshot, his head snapped up from the utility closet that he was examining. Gibbs quickly looked in McGee's direction, noting the alarm on his face as well.

He asked the rest of the team, "Everyone okay? Which floor was that from?" Simon and Gayne answered from the second floor, "It wasn't us. How's the ground floor, EJ?" Gibbs listened intently for an answer that didn't come. "Ziva? EJ?" he asked. "Report your position." He, McGee, Simon, and Gayne waited a brief anxious silence before Gibbs ordered, "Everyone to the ground floor now!"

He and McGee pounded down the stairs, hitting the landing as Simon and Gayne reached it. The four of them continued to the bottom floor, weapons drawn and ready. "Search every inch. And stay in pairs!" he yelled fiercely as Simon and Gayne began searching the east side of the warehouse.

Halfway through their search of the western side, McGee said to Gibbs in a low voice, "You don't think this is like what happened last time, do you? Tony—"

"This isn't last time. We'll find them," Gibbs interrupted, almost failing to keep the note of worry out of his voice.

After clearing yet another room, Gibbs burst out in frustration, "Where are Ziva and EJ? Has anybody had contact with them?" Simon answered, "Not yet. We're reaching our end of the building, though." Suddenly, Gibbs heard an unfamiliar, male voice say, "Basement. South-east corner."

He shared a brief look of shock with McGee, then, "South-east corner! Now!" As they reached the east end, Simon rushed past them in a full sprint. "Where are you going?" Gibbs yelled, bewildered. "In pursuit!" he answered over his shoulder. This statement took a split second to register before he said, "McGee, you too!"

Gibbs ran into the last room to see Gayne standing over a hole in the floor. "This isn't supposed to be here," Gayne said, eying Gibbs. "No, it's not," he said as he started to climb down a ladder that had been placed there. His flashlight and gun both ready, he waited for Gayne to descend before they both started quickly down a dark, narrow passage.

They soon came upon a heavy steel door that stood slightly ajar in the wall to their left. They burst inside, instantly freezing at the sight that met them. "Call an ambulance IMMEDIATELY!" Gibbs yelled to Gayne. As the younger man flicked open his phone, they both rushed into action, Gibbs running to Ziva, Gayne to EJ.

Gibbs knelt in the pool of blood beside his downed agent and bent close to examine her. The blood in his own veins instantly chilled as he took in the state of her. Her torso was slashed, and her throat appeared to be shredded on the left side. When he felt for her wrist, there was only the faintest whisper of a pulse. As he did his best to stem the flow of blood, he said urgently, "Ziva! Can you hear me?" No answer came from her lips as Gayne appeared beside him.

"EJ?" Gibbs asked, already knowing the answer. As Gayne assisted him in his task, he shook his head with a distraught look on his face. "It was definitive," he said in a cracked voice as he applied pressure to Ziva's torso.

Gibbs fell silent for a moment before saying, "Ambulance?"

"Already on its way. We're not far from the hospital, so it shouldn't take them long."

"Alright, I'll try my best with Ziva, but I want you to head back upstairs and lead them in."

"Got it," Gayne said standing back up. Gibbs heard him stop briefly by EJ's body before dashing out of the room and back along the passage.

As he sat with Ziva in the near dark, his heart racing, he said in a low, frantic voice, "Don't worry. We'll get you the help you need. Just hold on!" And he couldn't help but feel that these words were more for his benefit than hers. For a brief moment, he was almost sure he saw her eyes shift slightly beneath her eyelids before he heard Gayne say, "They're here! Leading them in now."

A moment later, he and four paramedics burst into the room. One of them and Gayne headed for EJ, and the other three went straight for Ziva. As Gibbs stood up, he staggered back, still keeping a watchful eye on her face. The men set to work, wrapping her wounds in temporary bandages, quickly transferring her to a stretcher, and feeding her the oxygen she desperately needed.

Gibbs turned around to look at the other two kneeling over EJ. The paramedic completed his all-too-brief exam and said to Gayne, "I'm sorry. There's nothing we can do for her." Her agent slowly nodded his head before closing her dull, staring eyes.

After a moment, the other paramedics rushed past with Ziva as they headed back out into the corridor. Gibbs looked toward Gayne and said, "I'll help them up the ladder with Ziva." He briefly stared at the trio on the floor before following the other group out. As they reached the ladder, one of the paramedics climbed up to the floor above. He knelt at the edge of the hole, pulling Ziva up headfirst while Gibbs and the others lifted the other end of the stretcher, her feet nearly touching the low ceiling in their attempt to keep her as level as possible. The paramedic slid her onto the floor above, the rest of them quickly following her up.

They carried Ziva out of the warehouse and loaded her into the ambulance as Gibbs watched. Slamming the doors shut, the lead paramedic echoed Gibbs' words, reassuring him, "Don't worry. We'll help her." Jumping into the driver's seat, the vehicle sped off, leaving Gibbs staring after it. He brought his hand up to rub his eyes before noticing the red. He stopped, looked down at his clothing, and noticed for the first time the copious amount of blood that clung to them. He tore off his jacket and hastily attempted to wipe away the reminder of another mistake from his hands.

* * *

><p>Beeps...darkness...green eyes...brown eyes...lifeless, staring eyes...mutters and murmurs...a knife, a gun, a bullet...pain...red...more darkness, more beeps...<p>

* * *

><p>Her eyelids slowly drifted open, the sight of a blank, white ceiling there to greet her. She heard a sigh of relief to her left and slowly turned her head to see Gibbs sitting next to her. He leaned forward to stare into her weary face and asked, "How are you?" She closed her eyes and turned away, saying, "I have had better days." After a moment of silence, she finally opened her eyes and inclined her hospital bed. As she sat up, she took a sharp intake of breath, holding her midsection. Gibbs made a move to help her, but she just shook her head and sat up a little straighter.<p>

"You bled out quite a bit; they almost lost you three times during surgery. The knife he used on you actually damaged your liver, but not seriously. However, the bullet that went through your throat...That was worse. It was this close," he said, holding his thumb and forefinger a centimeter apart, "from striking you're spinal cord. It tore through your carotid artery and actually chipped a bone in your neck. That complicated things for the surgeons," he said quietly. She cupped her hand over her bandaged throat, feeling her slight pulse beneath. "The doctor said you're lucky to be alive."

"And EJ?" Ziva asked, already suspecting his reply.

"...She died on scene. Ducky did her autopsy, said her death was pretty quick."

"I should have known better," she said turning away. "The entire time, my gut was telling me something was wrong. You would think I would have learned to listen to it after what happened during our most recent raid," she said quietly, still not looking at Gibbs. "It's not your fault," he said looking at a point on her sheets. "You were chasing ghosts...We all were..."

Ziva finally looked at Gibbs and said, "So we have not caught him yet." It wasn't a question. Gibbs shook his head, admitting, "No, we haven't. When we were looking for you and EJ at the warehouse, Simon saw him watching us from the other end of the building. He and McGee ran after him, but they couldn't find any sign of where he'd gone." Ziva looked away again, saying quietly, "He really likes to show how close he can get to us."

"Yeah, he does," Gibbs noted, watching her closely. "We're just running in circles; he's as meticulous as ever. He left nothing behind but those eyes." At the mention of this, she looked at Gibbs intently, waiting for what he would say next. "They belonged to a naval petty officer missing since last Friday. We don't know how he fits in, but we're working on it." Upon hearing this, Ziva slackened a bit. She brought a slightly shaking hand to cover her eyes, saying quietly, "When I found them...I thought they were Tony's." Gibbs fell silent, then said in an equally quiet, yet firm voice, "He's missing, not dead...We'll find him." Ziva nodded her head, refusing to look in his direction, knowing her eyes would betray her thoughts.

Attempting to change the subject, Gibbs said in a foreignly cheerful voice, "McGee, Abby, and Ray were here just a few minutes ago. Those are from her," he said, pointing past Ziva towards a gratuitously large bouquet of red and black balloons plastered with varying slogans of "Get well soon!" At the sight of them, she cracked her first small smile in what felt like weeks. Staring at them, Gibbs said, "I gave the team the rest of the afternoon off, actually."

"In the middle of—?"

"This case, Ziva...It's beating us all up," he said wearily. And she couldn't help but notice how much older he suddenly looked, how tired his eyes became. "We've been pounding this case almost nonstop for the last month. Between you, Tony, and EJ...this past week's been rough. Abby's frantic and refuses to sleep regular hours, Tim's pushing himself to pick up the slack, and I've got Vance on my back the entire time. Simon and Gayne won't rest either; EJ's death hit them hard. The losses we've sustained..." he trailed off. He paused before saying, "We all needed a bit of a mental break." He heaved a resigned shrug, and for a brief moment, Ziva thought she saw defeat flit through his eyes. This frightened her more than anything.

They fell into silence until Gibbs sighed and got to his feet. "Well, we're back on this tomorrow. I'll have to brief you, find out what happened at the warehouse. Today, you should just rest. Everyone'll be happy to know you're awake," he said, managing a small smile.

As he reached to open the door, Ziva said quietly, "He did not kill me." Gibbs paused, staring back at her. "He had many opportunities to do it." He looked her in the eye and said, "He told us where to find you. We found out afterward that he had taken EJ's earbud." Ziva stared into the corner and said in a low voice, "He knew who I was. We have met before, but...I do not know how."

Gibbs waited for her to say something more, but she remained silent. "We'll talk tomorrow," he finally repeated. After he left, Ziva concentrated on the opposite wall, replaying the hundreds, the _thousands_ of people she'd met in her life, attempting, but failing, to remember who the man was.

**A/N—Thanks for putting up with my writing habits :P . Comments, criticisms, and reviews are always greatly appreciated. Until next time, happy reading :)**


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